There’s nothing particularly deep about the 
gameplay of Infinity Blade, but the game is a lot of fun to play — and it’s nearly as fun to just look at. The graphics engine powering the app is an offshoot of the one used in Gears of War, making it one of the most advanced on Apple’s systems. Unfortunately, after you’ve played for a while the repetitive nature of the game becomes apparent. While you can choose different weapons and magic powers to battle opponents, you’re still using the same actions. That could prevent some people from finishing the game. That said, there’s something mesmerizing about the simplistic structure of the game that hooks you and fans of action games will likely find themselves playing regularly — even though they recognize the game’s faults. Infinity Blade, in some ways, is an action equivalent of classic quarter-gobbling arcade games. You’re repeating the same motions and actions a lot, but the game is still somehow entertaining enough that you may not mind.
Author Archives: Chris Morris
App review: Game Party: In Motion
Family fun titles are the heart and soul 
of Kinect’s early lineup. Game Party in Motion, on the surface, seems to have the right elements to fit in with this, gathering some arcade and boardwalk favorites — but once you start playing, you’ll realize exactly how lousy it is. It has some of the worst controls of any Kinect title, making it impossible to fully enjoy the games. And rather than consistantly relying on people’s natural movements (such as with billiards, where virtually everyone knows how to mimic a shot), it requires an elaborate series of motions that don’t make sense. The menus give you no sense of where your hand is on screen, which can make it hard to navigate. This is one Kinect title you’ll want to avoid.
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App review: PopOut! The Night Before Christmas
Following its charming PopOut! The 
Tale of Peter Rabbit, Loud Crow Interactive turns its talents on this Christmas standard in terrific fashion. Besides being a good story, PopOut! The Tale of Peter Rabbit is also a good learning tool. And the pop-up elements are wonderful additions to the story, using sound and movement in terrific fashion. Each page has several interactive elements that encourage poking the screen or tilting the iPad. Finding them is half the fun. The narration and music are festively appropriate and calming (which isn’t a bad thing at this time of year). This is one of the best holiday apps this season.
World of Warcraft shows no signs of slowing down
The latest expansion to the “World of Warcraft” 
franchise sold more copies in 24 hours than most PC games sell throughout the course of their life.
More than 3.3 million people bought “World of Warcraft: Cataclysm” in its first day of availability – making it the fastest selling PC game of all time, according to publisher Activison-Blizzard. (The previous recordholder, not surprisingly, was the last “WoW” expansion – which sold 2.8 million copies in the 24 hours.)
The best of iTunes: 2010
Apple has put together its list of
the top apps and downloads for 2010 – giving an interesting look at how its user base is using its various products.
Games rule supreme for iPhone owners, who pushed them to the top of the paid program charts, but for iPad users, business software beat out everything else.
App review: ROCK BAND Reloaded for iPad
The Rock Band franchise is one of the best in the music
genre and this mobile version keeps the quality level high. The game comes with a deep collection of music — 20 songs are available initially — and finally lets players actually sing the songs, rather than tap the screen along with the lyrics. This “vocal mode” makes the game more immersive (though for tone-deaf players, the tap along option is still available). The game is pretty forgiving with singers, though — not recognizing lyrics and being extremely generous with pitch. The differentiating features of the iPad version (versus the iPhone version) are minimal and don’t really justify the extra $5 in price. It’s a well-made and truly fun game, but you’re just as well off buying the less expensive iPhone version.
Video Game Sales Surge Once More in November
“Black Ops” brought some black ink 
for the video game industry in November.
Retail software sales posted impressive growth over 2009 numbers, marking the first time the industry has posted back-to-back gains this year.
‘Call of Duty’ leads Nov. sales charge
Activision has done something no 
other publisher has been able to do this year – pull the video game industry out of its retail sales slump for the second consecutive month.
“Call of Duty: Black Ops” led the industry to an impressive 9 percent gain over the 2009 retail sales numbers. Add in hardware, Kinect and the rest of the assorted offerings and the gaming industry made $2.95 billion last month, according to The NPD Group. That’s the best November on record.
‘Call of Duty’ Likely to Rule November Video Game Sales
Last November, Activision’s annual “Call of Duty” release ruled the sales charts in a dominant fashion. This year, the story is set to repeat itself.
“Call of Duty: Black Ops” could lead the video game industry to its second consecutive month of year-over-year retail sales gains. If so, that will be the first time this year the sector has managed to pull off that feat.
Analysis: EA Expands Pogo.com, Looking For A Chance To Digitally Shine
Gamasutra’s Chris Morris speaks to Michael 
Marchetti, senior vice president of EA’s casual gaming site Pogo.com about how he intends to “build the base of new players” to add to its 1.5 million active subscribers.
To the outside world, Pogo.com has always seemed like the redheaded stepchild of Electronic Arts. Bought nine years ago, there’s nothing flashy about the site and its core audience isn’t likely to buy a lot of other EA games – well, until the next Simsexpansion pack comes around, anyway.
It’s a consistent moneymaker, however; one that has generally been left to fend for itself. And it’s done quite well. As recently as 2007, in fact, it was handily beating Facebook in terms of time spent by users, according to Compete.com. But the industry is changing fast – and now Pogo.com is being asked to step up its game.
Chris Morris: Journalist 